Life story retold by Paul Beecroft
C. UNDERWOOD
65888 Private
Royal Army Medical Corps
1st March 1920 Age 40
Charles UNDERWOOD was born in Battersea, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth in April 1879. His parents were George UNDERWOOD who was born in Southampton and Sarah HUMPREYS/HUMPHRIES who was born in London. They were married in Southampton in October 1869. They had six children – Ellen (1871), Susan Kate (1872), Eliza (1875), George (1877), Charles (1879) and Alice (1881). In 1871, prior to Charles being born, the family lived in Southampton. His father’s occupation was that of a painter. The family appear to have moved around as Ellen and Susan were born in Southampton, Eliza in Marylebone, George in Brighton and Charles and Alice in Battersea.
The census for 1881 shows the whole family living in Selsdon Road, Croydon. Just two years later, at the age of 37, his father died. His death must have caused the family a lot of hardship and it appears that the family may have been split up.
The 1891 census shows both Charles and George UNDERWOOD of the correct age and place of birth as being Pauper Inmates of the North Surrey District Schools in Penge, London. His mother is resident in Goodge Street, Marylebone with her daughter (Susan) Kate. Sarah’s occupation is Mantle Maker and Kate a Tailoress. The whereabouts of the other sisters is unknown.
In 1901, Charles is living as a boarder at 21, Cristowe Road, Fulham. He is now 23 years old. His occupation in the census is unreadable. His brother George is also a boarder in Lavender Road, Battersea and by trade is a Tailor’s Cutter.
By 1911, Charles was living in Reading at 120, Chatham Street and is shown as a Tailor. Exactly when he moved to Reading is unknown. He may well have moved to Reading following an advertisement in The Reading Observer in 1902:-
MACHINISTS, Tailoresses, improvers and Apprentices wanted, good wages to all;
Also Errand Lad. – Apply 120, Chatham Steet, Reading.
On 31st August 1912, Charles married Louisa Eliza WICKS. Louisa was born in Cranbrook, Kent in 1878. Her maiden name was LUSTED. Louisa was a widow. She had married Frederick William WICKS in Reading in 1898 but Frederick died six years later in November 1904. They had two children, Mabel Annie who was 13 years old and Dorothy who was 9 years old. Louisa was a Tailoress, and they had no doubt met as a result of their occupations.
Charles, Louisa and her children then moved to 35, Sherwood Street.
On 25th February 1914, their daughter Winifred Elsie was born. In August of the same year Britain became involved in World War I. Charles by now was 35 years old and at the start of hostilities with most people believing that the war would not last long, he did not join up. After fourteen months with no sign of the war ending and numerous servicemen being wounded, he joined the army for the duration of the war and became a Private in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
His Attestation papers confirm that he was approved and appointed to the R.A.M.C. on 21st October 1915, although his engagement commenced on the 13th October. Strangely under the head of ‘Particulars as to Children’ he included Dorothy born 30.10.02 (step daughter) and Winifred born 25.2.1914. There was no mention of Mabel. By now she would have been about 17 years old and may well have been living away from home and therefore not included.
On 18th October he was posted to Bulford Army Camp near Salisbury. There he would have received his basic training. Following this he was posted to the 140th Field Ambulance which was attached to the 41st Division. He then moved to Aldershot where the 41st Division, including 138th, 139th and 140th Field Ambulance were inspected by the King on April 26th, which was part of the usual farewell given prior to leaving England for the first time.
Charles left Aldershot on May 3rd 1916 and entrained from Farnborough to Southampton and on May 5th he arrived in France. From there the 140th made their way to Godewaersvelde and Caestre which took several days. Conditions en route were described as being filthy and unsanitary with no access to drinking water or proper accommodation. Initially the 41st Division was located between Hazebouck and Bailleul. His duties would have been to take wounded soldiers to a Forward Dressing Station, which was the first stopping place for the wounded after the Regimental Aid Post where only basic treatment was given. Following this, apart from those who had no home, the wounded were then taken to a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) either by horse drawn or motor ambulance. Finally, if still alive, the wounded were transferred again either by hospital train or canal barge to a base hospital.
Charles would have been at the front line on many occasions collecting the wounded. It was a very dangerous job and meant entering the trenches and no man’s land. There was little or no respite and it could go on for many days and nights without any sleep. At the end of the month the Division moved to Bailleul and were re-designated as the reserve field ambulance.
The Division then had a reasonably quiet period until August 18th when they were transferred to the Somme. Charles would have been at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, Battle of Morval where the fighting was severe with the weather deteriorating bringing rain and making the battlefield difficult. Following a battle on 13th September some 2000 or more were evacuated to the CCS by the 138th and 140th Field Ambulance and by the 17th the number had risen to more than 3000. As we know, fighting went on for months and months.
In 1917, Charles was also involved in a battle at Passchendaele, known as Third Ypres. In October 1917, Charles was granted his 1st Good Conduct Badge. On November 14th Charles finally left France/Belgium. The Division was to be transferred to Italy. The journey to Italy took close to four days and the whole of the journey was spent in a cattle truck. Exactly where Charles was in Italy is not known but he would have been looking after the wounded in Field Hospitals. It was a fairly quiet time with the main problem being sickness. It was freezing cold, and they were dealing with cases of pneumonia and diarrhoea.
His stay in Italy was not long. The Division received orders to return to France and they left on March 3rd and arrived back in France on the 8th. On arrival they were involved in the Battle of St. Quintin. Here the Army was subjected to gas attacks causing numerous casualties with men congregating at aid posts.
Charles remained at the Front until the war ended in November 1918. Although he had signed up for the duration of the war he obviously made the decision to remain, at least for a time. On January 29th he was granted 14 days leave. This appears to be his first leave sine he left for France nearly three years ago.
It is not clear if he returned to France or not. His leave finished on February 14th 1919 and just five days later on the 19th he was admitted to hospital with diarrhoea. He remained in hospital until March 1st. One month later on April 4th he was again admitted to hospital. His diagnosis was Gastritis. He was discharged from hospital on the 10th but was admitted again the following day and diagnosed with Dyspepsia. He was then transferred to a CCS. On the 23rd April he was moved to a War Hospital and discharged from there on May 2nd.
In the months that followed there is no record of where he was stationed. All that is known is that he became very ill and at some point in early 1920 he was admitted to Reading War Hospital, where on the 1st March he died. His cause of death is given as Carcinoma of Pylorus. In other words he actually had cancer which was not realised in the early months of 1919 during his hospital admissions.
Details of his funeral are not known but he was buried in Reading Old Cemetery and is commemorated on the wall.
There were no reports of Charles’s death in local newspapers, but, some five weeks later he was mentioned in a London newspaper The Kensington Post:-
UNDERWOOD. – On March 1st, Pte.
Charles Underwood, R.A.M.C., native
of London, tailor, aged 40. Deeply mourned
by his wife, 35, Sherwood-street, Reading, Berks
Brother of George Underwood, a tailor’s cutter.
Louisa became a widow for the second time. She did not marry again. She died in 1943. Her death was reported in the Reading Standard on 24th September:-
UNDERWOOD: – On Sept. 15, 1943 at “Westleigh”
Craven Road, Newbury. Louisa Eliza Underwood,
wife of the late Charles Underwood, formerly of
35, Sherwood Street, Reading, aged 65 years.
At rest.
Division 71-72, War Plot